23 saved from child labour

Taken on the pretext of free education, they were made to work

Timely action by the police has led to the rescue of 23 children from two districts of Assam who were lured away in the name of free education to a non-existent missionary school and made to work as labourers in Nagaland for the past one week. All 23 came from poor, illiterate families.

While the first group of 12 children was rescued on June 24, eleven others were located and brought home on Wednesday. Police, however, said there were at least 17 children who are yet to be located. But they were hopeful that they would soon be traced.

8220;There have been stray reports about some children being lured away by some traffickers from different villages for several months now. But it was only on June 18 that the whole thing came to light when a boy returned home and said he was made to work as a labourer in Dimapur,8221; said L Terang, additional SP of Udalguri district.

While 13-year old Nirash Mahato, son of farmer Jawaharlal Mahato in Saikia-chuk village came back and said he was kept as a slave in Dimapur in Nagaland, villagers apprehended a person who had taken away several children saying he would admit them to a boarding school.

8220;Villagers said a man by the name of Bikash Bagh had taken the children with a promise of providing free education at a boarding school called Believers8217; Cambridge School in Dimapur. Once Nirash told his tale of horror, we immediately arrested him,8221; Terang said over the telephone from Udalguri.

And as more and more parents turned up and said their children had gone with Bagh, police made a list of 40 such children. 8220;We have booked him on charges of kidnapping and trafficking,8221; the additional SP said.

A team of policemen from Udalguri went to Nagaland on June 24 and rescued 12 such children. A second attempt on June 27 brought back 11 more, taking the total number rescued to 23. 8220;There should be at least 17 more,8221; Terang said. Ten of those rescued are boys, and the remaining 13 are girls.

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The officer said that while the average age of the children lured is 11 years, there were some as young as five. Rahul Sen of Dinapur village is just 5 years old, while Anjala Munda of Tekelibeel village would be about six, he said.

8220;They came from families of landless or marginal farmers, all illiterate, but interested in educating their children,8221; Terang said. No parent had lodged missing complaints for their children until Bagh was held. 8220;They thought their children were studying,8221; he said.

Bagh, who comes from the adjoining district of Sonitpur, currently resides in Borlengerijan village which is close to the Assam-Nagaland border. 8220;He has married a girl from a village near here. He first took his brother-in-law8217;s daughter, whom he used to convince other parents to let their children go with him,8221; said Deben Chandra Nath, officer in-charge of Orang police outpost.